 | Joaquin Miller's Poems |  |
184
QUESTION?
In the days when my mother, the Earth, was young,
And you all were not, nor the likeness of you,
She walk'd in her maidenly prime among
The moonlit stars in the boundless blue.
And you all were not, nor the likeness of you,
She walk'd in her maidenly prime among
The moonlit stars in the boundless blue.
Then the great sun lifted his shining shield,
And he flash'd his sword as the soldiers do,
And he moved like a king full over the field,
And he looked, and he loved her brave and true.
And he flash'd his sword as the soldiers do,
And he moved like a king full over the field,
And he looked, and he loved her brave and true.
And looking afar from the ultimate rim,
As he lay at rest in a reach of light,
He beheld her walking alone at night,
When the buttercup stars in their beauty swim.
As he lay at rest in a reach of light,
He beheld her walking alone at night,
When the buttercup stars in their beauty swim.
So he rose up flush'd in his love, and he ran,
And he reach'd his arms, and round her waist
He wound them strong like a love-struck man,
And he kiss'd and embraced her, brave and chaste.
And he reach'd his arms, and round her waist
He wound them strong like a love-struck man,
And he kiss'd and embraced her, brave and chaste.
So he nursed his love like a babe at its birth,
And he warm'd in his love as the long years ran,
Then embraced her again, and sweet mother Earth
Was a mother indeed, and her child was man.
And he warm'd in his love as the long years ran,
Then embraced her again, and sweet mother Earth
Was a mother indeed, and her child was man.
The sun is the sire, the mother is earth!
What more do you know? what more do I need?
The one he begot, and the one gave birth,
And I love them both, and let laugh at your creed.
What more do you know? what more do I need?
185
And I love them both, and let laugh at your creed.
And who shall say I am all unwise
In my great, warm faith? Time answers us not:
The quick fool questions; but who replies?
The wise man hesitates, hushed in thought.
In my great, warm faith? Time answers us not:
The quick fool questions; but who replies?
The wise man hesitates, hushed in thought.
| Joaquin Miller's Poems | |